BARCELONA: coach Ernesto Valverde has dismissed reports suggesting Neymar could leave Paris Saint-Germain and return to the Catalan giant as “fantasy.”
In the same week that PSG crashed out of the Champions League, and only seven months after he joined the club for a world record €222 million ($264 million), Neymar´s future has grown uncertain.
Spanish sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo claims the Brazilian, recovering from surgery on a broken foot in Brazil, has made contact with Barca to ask how he can engineer a return.
The article adds Neymar has explained he made a mistake in leaving the club, was wrong to want independence from Lionel Messi and has been disappointed by the standard of opposition in Ligue 1.
Asked about the reports on Friday, Valverde said: “It seems to me a fantasy and we do not know where it came from or where it will end.
“It is a fantasy and we are not going to speak about rumors when we know it would not end here.”
Barca, however, is not the only club Neymar is reportedly targeting as a potential way out of PSG.
Madrid-based newspaper AS reports Neymar´s father has met with Real Madrid, who are ready to pay 400million euros to sign the striker.
Real coach Zinedine Zidane said on Friday: “Neymar could play in all the clubs because he is very good, like many players.
“I´m not going to talk about a player that is not mine. On the 400 million, they paid 220 million and when they bought me they paid 72.
“It seemed crazy to me and 10 years later they are paying 220 million. It may well be that in the next 10 years someone will pay 400m, or sooner, I do not know.”
Mundo Deportivo concedes Neymar´s courting of Barcelona may even be a tactic to justify a move to Real, given the Catalan club are likely to reject any chance to re-sign the 26-year-old.
Barcelona are still embroiled in a financial dispute over a bonus due to Neymar last summer, which the club canceled when they believe it became clear he was moving to PSG.
Neymar missed PSG’s last 16 loss to Real on Tuesday after undergoing surgery on a broken foot in Brazil last week.
Barcelona coach dismisses talk of Neymar returning to Camp Nou as ‘fantasy’
Barcelona coach dismisses talk of Neymar returning to Camp Nou as ‘fantasy’
Karim Benzema joins Al-Hilal
RIYADH: Karim Benzema has joined Al-Hilal after leaving Al-Ittihad, the Riyadh club announced early Tuesday.
The former French international was introduced with a post on social media, “Karim Benzema is officially Hilali.”
The 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, who scored eight goals in 14 league matches this season, joined on a free transfer, his new club added.
Though this chapter comes to an end “respect and gratitude will always remain,” the Frenchman said.
“Thank you to the club, the staff, my teammates, and especially the fans for the welcome, the love, and the energy you gave me every day,” Benzema wrote on social media.
“This journey gave me a lot, both personally and professionally. I leave with my head held high, proud to have worn these colors and of everything we shared.”
Benzema moved to Saudi Arabia in 2023 after 14 seasons with Real Madrid. Last season he scored 21 goals as Al-Ittihad won the league.
This season Al-Ittihad trail leaders Al-Hilal by 12 points.
— with input from Reuters
